It turns out Johnny Depp’s name alone wasn’t enough to save The Lone Ranger – a film that has seen an awful reception from the critics. While Despicable Me 2 grabbed a healthy $34m opening, the disappointing Western dined on a measly $9.7 – far below what the studio were expecting.

Depp and Hammer as Tonto and The Lone Ranger

"Simply because of the budget and Depp's star power, there were huge expectations for this film to perform well at the box office," Hollywood.com Box Office president Paul Dergerabedian said. "Any time you have a high-profile star in a brand name movie, it puts the film under enormous scrutiny."

Depp stars as Tonto in the film, a Native American who buddies up with The Lone Ranger, played by Armie Hammer. "The goal is to do well internationally," Dergerabedian continued. "That's where you can make back some of that budget. They're going to have to rely pretty heavily on that marketplace." The Disney movie rolls out over the next few weeks in Europe and South America, before hitting the U.K on August 9th – its best chance at recovering some of the whopping $250k it took to make.

The Lone Ranger is a classic Western story re-told

The bad reviews will certainly have hurt Ranger’s opening day. Rotten Tomatoes have totted up the review scores, as they do for nearly every film, and place it at an embarrassing 23%. Depp’s name better be strong, because it needs a huge international performance to save it from the mire of failure.